MALAYSIA reported 768 Covid-19 hospital admissions yesterday after recording below 1,000 admissions for eight straight days, according to the CovidNow website. 

The Health Ministry said the overall bed utilisation rate in the country rose slightly to 64.3% from 62.5% a day earlier. Of that figure, 30.4% of the hospitalisations were linked to Covid-19, which was a drop from 30.5%. 

Hospital admission indicates the severity of the virus, while hospital utilisation includes bed usage, as well as the number of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) and on ventilators.

The Klang Valley still had the greatest number of admissions among all states, at 189. The bulk of the cases was centred at Selangor with 157 cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur (17) and Putrajaya (15).

The overall bed utilisation rate is at 57.0% in the Klang Valley, including non-Covid-19 patients. 

Other states that reported new admissions were Johor (168), Sabah (101), Kelantan (76), Perak (48), Negri Sembilan (33), Sarawak and Terengganu (32 each), Penang (23), Kedah and Pahang (22 each ), Malacca and Perlis (11 each).

Labuan, again, did not report any new admission. Meanwhile, Kelantan recorded the highest overall bed utilisation in the country at 80.2%. 

Malaysia yesterday reported 3,108 fresh Covid-19 infections, a significant drop from 4,083 a day earlier.

As of midnight, there were 53,482 active Covid-19 cases in Malaysia. Of this number, there were 390 cases in the ICU, with 211 requiring respiratory support.

Ventilator utilisation was at 37.6% while intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy stood at 57.9%, of which 36.3% were coronavirus cases.

A total of 45,147 patients were in home quarantine, 4,013 in low-risk quarantine centres and 3,931 in hospital.

The Klang Valley accounted for 1,121 infections, with Selangor reported 919 cases, Kuala Lumpur (184) and Putrajaya (18).

Other states that reported new cases were Johor (297), Kelantan (255), Penang (216), Sabah and Perak (189 each),  Malacca and Kedah (176 each), Terengganu (156), Pahang (150), Negri Sembilan (122), Sarawak (30), Perlis (16) and Labuan (12). – December 20, 2021.